Pole pulling apparatus



Oct. 25, 1955 w, BARFIELD 2,721,664

POLE PULLING APPARATUS Filed June 24, 195s 2 sheets-@sheet 1 WA LTER BAlELD ATTORNEY l Oct. 25, 1955 w. BARFIELD 2,721,664

POLE PULLING APPARATUS Filed June 24, 19525 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORATTORNEY me e A United Smiles POLEIPULLING APPARATUS y Walter Bariield,pper Darby, Par

Applicationrune 24,19s3sriatNo. 363,815

z'ciaims.: (ci. 21e-sy' My invention relates to the art of pulling outtelephone poles and other relativelyheavy and deeply` embedded objectssuchfas. treestumps and thezlike.

One vobject of. this. invention is '-to producel an Aimproved apparatus.for the purpose lsetuforth.

it would be difiicult, if not impossible to reach by conventionalequipment now in use.

A still further object is to produce an apparatus for the purpose statedwhich is power operated and which is simple, durable and easy tomanipulate.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a highly diagrammatic top plan view of a pole pullingapparatus embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a highly diagrammatic view partly in section and partly inelevation, looking in the direction of line 2 2 on Figs. 1 and 7.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary, highly diagrammatic, elevational view lookingin the direction of line 3--3 on Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a side elevational view showing the position of the parts whenthe apparatus is ready to begin the pole pulling operation.

Fig. 5 is similar to Fig. 4 but showing the pole after it has beenpulled and while it is being moved to a horizontal position.

Fig. 6 is similar to Figs. 4 and 5 but showing the pole laidlongitudinally of the truck and ready for transportation to the desiredpoint.

Fig. 7 is a section on line 7 7 on Fig. 6, showing details ofconstruction.

An apparatus of this type includes a truck, means for engaging the poleto be pulled out and power means for exerting the required pull. Thepresent invention relates primarily to making the pole-engaging means somovable and adjustable as to facilitate, or at least render possible,engagement with a pole that is in an out of the way, or partlyobstructed, location and, secondarily, the invention relates to improvedmeans for engaging the pole. This being the case, only the body orchassis 10, the engine 12 and the wheels 14 of the truck are shown. Allthe other parts of the truck as well as any or all other auxiliaryequipment which may be associated with apparatus of this type isomitted.

As illustrated, the truck has mounted on it a platform 16 which ismovable longitudinally of the chassis in a guide channel 18, Fig. 2, andthe channel 18 is movable transversely of the chassis in a guide channel20, Fig. 1. The platform 16 may be moved, in either direc- 2,721,664Patented Oct. 2,5, 1955 rice tion, by any suitable means but I prefer toemploy a longitudinally disposed double acting, air or hydrauliccylinder 22 for moving the platform 16. longitudinally, anclatransversely disposed double acting air or hydraulic cylnder 24' formoving the platform 16 transversely, of the chassis I0. The cylindersl22and 24 are connected to the engine 10, or to a pump operated by theengine, by pipes 26 leading to the opposite ends of the cylinders. Thestructure and operation of double acting cylinders is too well known toneed any description. It is enough to say that when fluid pressure isapplied to one end of cylinder 22 the platform 16 will movelongitudinally in one direction, and vice versa, and that when uidpressure is applied to one end of cylinder 24, the platform will move,transversely, in one direction, and vice versa. This movement is shownin Fig. 1 fromY which it will be seen that the .platform can be moved'tothe-inner position shown in solid lines in which it coincides with thechassis of the truck, or outwardly from, and to either side of/th'elongitudinal' axis of said chassis. By this means, the pole-engagingmeans which is carried by the platform, and which will be later ondescribed, can be moved so as to make it possible to reach and engagethe pole. For example, assume that the pole is at position A or B, andassume that there is a ditch, or some other obstruction which would makeit impossible to back up or to maneuver sideways sufficiently to reachthe pole with the pole-engaging means in the solid line position ofFig. 1. By my invention, the platform is moved laterally or transverselyuntil the pole-engaging means is within reach of the pole.

The pole-engaging means includes a pair of air or hydraulic cylinders 28which are carried by beams 30 on the platform 16. The bottom ends of thecylinders 28 are connected by a Curved beam 32, Fig. 7, whichstrengthens the construction and which, by abutting the pole, makes forsteadiness and insures that the poleengaging means will be in a positionto engage the pole. Working in cylinders 28 are a pair of plungers 34the upper ends of which are pivoted at 36 to a two-piece collar 38 theparts of which are adapted to be clamped about the pole as at 40. Thecylinders 28 are conventional and need not be described. It is sucientto say that they are connected to the engine or to some other source ofpower, by means of pipes 42 and their operation is such that, when fluidpressure is applied to the lower end of the cylinders, the plungers 34will move upwardly to raise the pole from its embedded position of Fig.1 to a point above the ground.

In order to move the pole to the horizontal position of Fig. 6, in whichthe pole can be conveniently transported, I provide a vertical air orhydraulic cylinder 46 which is pivoted at 48 to a post 50 carried byplatform 16. Working in the cylinder 46 is a plunger 52 which issuitably connected as at 54 to a two-piece collar 56 which is adapted tobe clamped to the pole as at 58. The cylinder 46 cooperates with thecylinders 28 in pulling the pole out of the ground and, subsequently, itoperates to bring the pole from the position of Fig. l to that of Fig.6*. Thus, simultaneously with the operation of cylinders 28, uidpressure is applied to the lower end of cylinder 46 by means of a pipenot shown, similar to pipes 42, and leading to the engine or to someother source of power. This uid pressure pushes plunger 52 upwardly andit will be noted that the pivoted mounting of the cylinder allows it toaccommodate itself to the necessary angle as shown in Fig. l. It willalso be noted that, as the plungers 34 reach their maximum height,cylinder 46 will have moved from the position of Fig. 4 to that of Fig.5 and that the upper portion of the pole now overhangs the rear portionof the chassis. When the parts reach the position of Fig. 5, thepressure in cylinder 46 is gradually decreased and, by

3 gravity, the upper portion of the pole will gradually move towards thechassis until it nnally assumes the position of Fig. 6 in which the polerests on the stand 50 which carries cylinder 46, or on some otherbracket, and on a suitable support 51 located near the front end of thechassis. It will be noted that the pole is firmly held by collars 38 and56 and needs no further fastening during transportation. By comparingFigs. 4 and 6 it will be seen that collars 38 and 56 move through anangle of 90 degrees from the horizontal position of Fig. 4 to thevertical position of Fig. 6.

It Will thus be seen that by this construction, a conventional apparatusof this type is made more versatile in that it is capable of reachingpoles which are not accessible with a conventional apparatus in whichthe pole engaging means is carried by a xed part of the truck.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for pulling out poles and other embedded objects saidapparatus including an automotive vehicle, a platform movably mounted onsaid vehicle, means for moving said platform longitudinally of saidvehicle, means for moving said platform transversely of said vehicle, alirst, uid-pressure operated means carried by the end of said platformand including at least one rst cylinder and e a first pistonreciprocable in said cylinder, a collar adapted to be clamped above apole to be pulled, means pivotally connecting said piston to saidcollar, a second uid pressure operated means also carried by saidplatform and including a second cylinder and a second pistonreciprocable in said second cylinder, a second collar adapted to beclamped about said pole at a point above the point at which said rstcollar is clamped about said pole, and means pivotally connecting saidsecond collar to said second piston.

2. The structure recited in claim 1 in which said first cylinder islocated beyond the edge of the platform and said second cylinder islocated inwardly of the edge of the platform.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,138,972 Prevost May 11, 1915 1,371,344 Brackett Mar. 15, 19211,440,910 Cole et al. Jan. 2, 1923 2,396,614 Somes Mar. 12, 1946

